alison: we begin with this breaking news out of ohio. look at your screen. this is where crews are on the scene of a gas explosion in columbus. live pictures. it's still an active situation with the crews working to put out the fire. this is in a shopping center. in that shopping center there is a pizza place, a doctor's office, a post office. you can imagine at the holidays how busy the shopping area was. fire crews had just started to arrive and evacuate people because there were reports of a gas leak men the fire happened. we know at least one person is injured. but, of course, we are still waiting on any new detail tollis come out of the scene of the breaking news in columbus, ohio. we will get back to it as soon as we can. jonathan: a family looking for another place to stay after a dump truck plowed in their townhouse. that is where kevin lewis is joining us live. what do investi

happened out there? kevin: they aren't quite sure because there are conflicting stories. but the force of the trump truck caused the brick facade of the town home to collapse. the front glass window shattered. restoration crew is here but the home is condemned. this here is 62-year-old larry clark. he was driving that dump truck, hauling ground asphalt from a construction site. he claims he was traveling down owens road when a white box truck side-swiped him making his front wheels lock. clark said that sent him barreling into oncoming traffic where he hit four cars and then crashed into the brick town home. however, a road crew located a quarter mile up the road have a different rendition. they told me off-camera that clark sped through the work zone and caused this crash himself. prince george's county police

were you able to get a description of the driver of the truck, his license plate, anything? >> nothing. it happened so fast, he just kept going. you know? he knew it was wrong. he knew it was wrong. he kept going. kevin: are you looking for a mysterious white truck? >> at this point we are not look for a white truck. however, it is early in the investigation. there were witnesses out here that saw what took place. we are in the process of interviewing them. kevin: a dad and his two sons were hurt in this five-vehicle crash. they are expected to be okay. all new at 5:00, we will take a closer look at larry clark's maryland driving record, which does include more than 20 citations. live in oxon hill, i'm kevin lewis, abc7 news. jonathan: thanks. find out about breaking news when it happens. just sign up for breaking news text alerts at the website wjla.com. alison: we are also k

close eye on the developing story in the war on terror and the international manhunt now for the man acaused of driving right through the christmas market in berlin. today, the investigators gave the world this face with a name. now our lindsey mastis is at the "live desk" with the latest on the search for anis amri. lindsey: there is a search underway across europe for the 24-year-old man with ties to islamic extreme. i. take a look. amri is wanted for killing 12 and injuring another 48 in the christmas market attack. documents belonging to him were reportedly found in semi-truck. amri is known to use different names. he is tunisian and his request for asylum in germany had been refused, but he had not been deported. german authorities are asking the public to keep an eye out for him. they are offering 100,000 euro reward but they are warning he is likely armed and won't hesitate to ge

and killed the driver of the semi before going on the rampage. the gun has not been recovered. back to you. jonathan: okay. thanks. we can tell you that the downtown holiday market is in full swing along f street in d.c. but you can see a big police presence out there. all of this in the wake of the berlin attack. in the last hour and a half, d.c. police talked about stepping up security for the holidays. stephen tschida picks up the team coverage. he is live from the holiday market with what the interim chief had to say. stephen: first, i want to show you the orange barricades. they went up in the last half hour. added layer of security at the downtown holiday market. moments ago the van, you can see the police van arrived. a number of officers got out and fanned out into the crowd. the holiday market in full swing. we spoke to the police ch

the beefed up police presence is not because of any pacific threats. but to give people in the city a greater sense of curt. >> -- sense of security. >> one of our responsibilities is to make people feel safe. sometimes our presence at an event at a particular time can make folks feel safe. to the extent we can be at every event occurring in the city all the time, that is probably unrealistic. but to the extent we can make folks feel safe we will do that. >> coming up at 5:00, we will tell you what the chief had to say about going forward and security in d.c. for the next several weeks. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc7 news. jonathan: thanks. another crowded public place is the new m.g.m. casino at national harbor. you can imagine. i just opened. at 4:30 we will tell you inside the casino security center for a closer look at the measures taken there. alison: the other big questi

looking like as we head to the big holiday weekend? stormwatch7 chief meteorologist doug hill is tracking the forecast. doug: it looks good. today is the first day of winter. 5:44 this morning. the winter solstice, the time when the direct rays of the sun were farthest away of the northern hemisphere and tilted to that direction. winter is upon us. today, if today is a measure of winter, i will take a lot of winter days like this. temperatures in the 40's. plenty of sunshine. drop overnight to the 30's. a few upper 20's in the suburban locations. overnight is mostly crowddy. a range by morning. 25 to 30 and light souther lindh. if you are traveling tomorrow, good weather in the northeast. great lakes. looks fine. temperatures will be cool but comfortable here. as we get through the south, we rise to 60's, 70's, 80's. with no weather worries at all. through the southern plains, no problems. the only issue we see is the showers and the thunderstorms possible across arizona. that is it. so weather

traveling, you can stay a step ahead of the weather by downloading the stormwatch7 weather app. it's easy to track the weather from the phone. find it at the app store or get it on google play. more details, we'll drill down on the weather specifically for the christmas weekend and for the next ten days. we will join you in nine minutes. jonathan: thank you. we have new information on the fireworks explosion in mexico. this was an outdoor market outside mexico city where they tell a ton of fireworks. they have had problems in the past there but not to this degree. this is a huge explosion. 31 are dead. 12 now are missing. the number of wounded, they are having a hard time figuring that out because they are having a hard time accessing the areas hit with the explosion. dozens of people remain hospitalized as the officials continue to search for what set off the devastating blast. alison: back here in our area,

new place to live after a two-alarm fire did significant damage to the apartment complex in green belt. it happened in the middle of the night. it's at the greenbrier condominium. everyone was able to get out, including all the pets as well. apartment building was renovated but it's unclear if it has anything to do with the fire. firefighters were busy overnight in rockville, too. it looks like this fire was caused by misplaced fireplace ashes. the call went out but by the time the crews were on the scene the house was burning. jonathan: in the district, firefighters took time today to help make kids happy. volunteers gave away coats in northeast. the kids were given one-on-one attention to find the perfect fit. you know how hard it is to find the perfect jacket. good job. alison:

jonathan: he has been the voice of god and even nelson mandela. alison: but morgan freeman's new role is making waves on the social network. jonathan: are the value meals worth the money? find out why a man says you are paying more. alison: then a little bit later, the debate over repealing the so-called bathroom bill that have teams and musicians canceling appearances innorth carolina. >> this is all that is left of a nativity scene that caught on fire. authorities believe it was a wiring issue. but the owners believe otherwise. we will tell you what they are talking about and have

alison: skytrak7 over the scene of a fire in prince george's county. check out the scene in accokeek. the smoke coming from a building on an egg farm that happened on the 16000 of old marshall hall road. no one was hurt. some of the chickens, though, were lost. most of the animals, however, were rescued. jonathan: a long-time christmas tradition in frederick county went up in flames. while investigators say it's a fire that happened to a well-known naytivety scene. it started with the faulty wire or lights but the people who put up the display are not so sure. richard reeve was live in frederick to explain why. what do they think it is? richard: i'll tell you in a second but first we will show you th

this is some of the pieces from the few things that's left. you can see the nativity scene was right here. they have covered up the area with straw. look at this here. this shows you and it gives you an idea of the heat from the fire, buckling the metal fence here. let's show you video first. they covered the area up with straw. this fire began at 6:30 yesterday. last evening. firefighters got here fairly quickly after the family members saw the flames and called 911. as we discussed if fire investigators believe that this may have been wiring or lights or display. but the family believes it was deliberately set by someone who does not share their christian beliefs and they point out to the display sign outside. they say rocks and eggs have been thrown at it. it's been shot at they said. they had display 12 years ago and the same thing happened. >> it's hate crime. we have heard from so

today that really wants to help us. people have called and said i'm sorry. we are there with you. richard: now the fire investigators have not returned our calls inquiring about this situation where the family believes that someone deliberately set the fire. there is an upside, though, here. neighbors are rallying around the family. they are offering to help them rebuild. we will have more about that coming up at 5:00. live in frederick, richard reeve, abc7 news. jonathan: thanks. the developing story out of maryland where the state department of transportation asked the u.s. department of transportation to start testing the driverless cars. the feds are looking for several places to test the vehicles. we have been telling you about them for weeks. maryland thinks the interstate 95 and the aberdeen ground would be a perfect fit. we should find out if maryland is chosen. if it is the tests would begin in 2018.

go by and no one is driving. alison: i think i would. jonathan: i would, too. alison: speaking of transportation. let's check on the traffic situation there. we have an issue on the roads. jamie? jamie: this is 59 in virginia heading south --95 in virginia, heading southbound. there is a brush fire. you can see the sheen on the road is the water they have been using to get out the brush fire. right lane is blocked. two left lanes get by. 95 southbound at cardinal drive. past it getting in to dale city. with the flashing lights, even as they approach. they want to slow down and see what is going on. the backup is 12 miles per hour. it starts newington south to lorton and the occoquan continuing to dale city and woodbridge. heavy traffic north on the belt belt passing by old dominion. 6 miles per hour is what you are averaging here. no crashes to report. we are dealing with the brush fire. a lot of

the vienna metro. a lot of slowing. once you get to fairfax you get a break. that is a look at traffic. we will keep you updated on the brushfire. alison: thank you. "7 on your side" with a consumer alert about mcdonald's. not everyone is loving it. a man in chicago is suing mcdonald's restaurants in two illinois counties for overpricing their value meals. the man tells "daily herald" two cheeseburgers, medium drink and a meal costs $5.90 which is 41 contracts -- 41 cents than buying them individually. he is seeking a class action suit for consumer fraud. jonathan: i can hear the outrage boiling inside me. no, that's indigestion. then just don't buy it

way. doug: order two burgers and fries instead of a number six. i learned my first job in mcdonald's in tenth grade. hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, fish sandwich and drinks. jonathan: did you go home selling by fries? doug: i did. the weather is nice and quiet leading in the christmas weekend. time lapse from the german school of washington in potomac. 46 there now. beautiful sunrise and sunshine throughout the entire day. we wound up with absolutely gorgeous weather. period of cloudiness but it's not much. temperatures are comfortable. in the 40's. we look to be on a warming trend highlights that is with us for a couple more days. wake up tomorrow, the skies will be partly cloudy. 33 in waldorf. largo. and la plata. 35 in the district. so the numbers are looking good. we have been watching on the satellite and the radar.

forecast for tomorrow morning through the eastern new york state and new england. i don't think it's heavy. a dusting type of snow. rain along the coast. that should come and go. if you have the travel plans we think it will get out of town quickly in the morning. most of the area. most of the eastern part of the country is gorgeous for traveling. we have concerns tomorrow in phoenix for air travel. there will be delays coming in and out because of the rain and the thunderstorms. we have good information as far as the flight potential. it's in the green for the washington airports. laguardia may have a slight delay. chicago looks good as well. as far as what is happening for the holiday weekend travel. this is for the day on friday. we look for the showers to move through the upper midwest and the high plains. high pressure and the sunshine along the east coast. showers in the west coast. the intermountain region. no major storms. temperatures, none of it is freezing cold anywhere. the forecast for the weekend here for the first day of hanukkah and christmas eve is showers. looks like a 70% c

sunday, christmas day is terrific. plenty of sunshine and high of 49. the extended outlook, numbers go up in 50's. 40's for a stretch. monday and the beginning of kwanzaa for 53. it looks really nice. 60 degrees on tuesday. 46 on wednesday. as we head through the final days of 2016, in to 2017, kind of quiet and cold. jonathan: all right. alison: that's it. jonathan: that works. alison: thank you. still ahead at 4:00 -- >> i realize oh, oh, no. new bail money. really? alison: find out why st. nik needed the help. jonathan: plenty of kids hope santa will brick them a hatchimal this year. find out if the search is

fios is not cable. we're wired differently. that means incredibly fast 150 meg internet for the holidays. in the 3.7 seconds it takes ry watson to beat

fly, gary, fly. ...his friend can download 13 versions of the perfect song... ...his sister can live stream it... ...while his mom downloads how to set a dislocated shoulder. get 150 meg internet, tv and phone for just $79.99 per month online for the first year. cable can't offer that. only fios can.

alison: can you believe four days left until christmas and three days until the start of hanukkah? parents are scrambling to make sure the wish lists are satisfied. one of the hardest to find is a hatchable. john matarese spoke with an 8-year-old who has one and he has an honest review. so you don't waste your money. john: hatchimal is the must-have toy of the season with thousands of parents lining up for hours or

make the child happy. what if it is not all that? what if your child is bored? she received a hatchimal for her bit day two months ago. fun to get it out of the egg? >> yeah. john: after out of the egg was it fun? >> no. john: she doesn't really like hers to the horror of parents waiting in lines like these for hours. >> if it talks it's anoising. john: the hatchimal comes the first day. that is when the little bird hatches from the shell. the next day or so it makes baby sounds. then in a few days it becomes a child saying real words. the eyes changing color depending on mood but it got old fast. >> it didn't work. john: parents say when the child first hatches

it's exciting. but after a day or two, not so much. >> she sat it down and she hasn't touched it for two months. john: mom's assessment is not unusual. of the 4030 reviews we found on amazon, 49% give it a lowest one star rating. some are positive. one mom saying there is play value as the toy grows from a baby to a child. but megan says she doesn't think any hatchimal is worth hundreds of dollars. >> when people are paying the large amounts, i don't think that, i think they would be let down. john: all hot toys have a shelf life. tickle me elmo became stale after a few months. so don't be surprised if it loses its wow factor sooner than expected. jonathan: i can't believe people are spending hundreds of dollars for that. i have a feeling if this were widely available there would be a run on it for the holidays. facebook c.e.o. mark zuckerberg says he has a new

artificial intelligence assistant, voiced by morgan freeman. that is cool. zuckerberg uses it to control the lights or the thermostat and he makes toast. it can play music. almost all music. >> hey, play good nickelback songs. >> i'm sorry, mark. i'm afraid i can't do that. there are no good nickelback songs. >> good. that was a test. jonathan: i kind of like it. am i in the minority? i liked nickelback. alison: i didn't know anything was wrong with nickelback until morgan freeman told me. jonathan: zuckerberg guys code it, they must have a thing about nickelback. alison: it is neat to have the voice. that's cool. jonathan: coming up for us at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- >> we give us something to do. we take it seriously and we keep it up with it. jonathan: why the grandmas are getting their own unit in a west virginia police department. we'll explain it

>> an exclusive look inside the secret surveillance room at the m.g.m. casino. how good are the cameras in the ceiling? well, they can how are the taxes going? still trying to find a good site. they all...want...to... charge me. have you tried credit karma? credit karma doesn't do taxes. does credit karma do taxes? yeah, and they're totally free, so they'll never take any of your refund. oooh, credit karma...huh?

yeah, good call. file your taxes for free with credit karma tax.

jonathan: we are keeping a close eye on the breaking news. a gas expli

columbus, ohio. firefighters have it surrounded. talk about the nick of time. someone called in and said they smelled gas at the shopping center. you have a post office, pizza place, bigger area like a grocery store. they smell the gas and they start to evacuate people out of there. just as they are getting everybody out, maybe the last person, the explosion happened. one woman running from the place tripped. so far she is the only person with injuries. not serious injuries but the firefighters have had a battle on their hands trying to knock down the flames to get the gas shut off. we don't know what sparked the explosion. as soon as we get more information we will be sure -- oh, wait. we are getting this in. the oven at the pizza place sparked the gas explosion that took place at the shopping center in columbus. the only person hurt so far is a woman running away as they evacuated. she tripped and fell but she will be okay. alison: thank you. back at home, huge crowds of people pack the m.g.m. casino since it opened two weeks ago at national harbor. one of the b

course, is keeping everyone inside safe. maryland bureau chief brad bell was given exclusive access to the security center and he joins us live with a story you will see only on 7. brad? brad: hey, alison. m.g.m. is sinding two signals to the -- sending two signal to the community. they are watching the games. they want to protect the integrity of gaming in here but they also want the community to feel safe in the era when we are worried about soft targets. >> this is a 360 camera. brad: deep inside m.g.m. national harbor, they monitored what he believes is the most sophisticatedded security camera system in the world. >> we can move it around. zoom it. brad: his primary focus is on the casino floor and the gaming operations. though we are not permitted to show extreme closeups of the monitors. if we di

clear as the story you are watching now full 1080 h.d. >> this is pretty far away. you can see clearly what it is. brad: there are 900 cameras in the casino and 1,400 monitored by a different security team for the rest of the property. >> the security is phenomenal here. brad: m.g.m. invited us in to make just that point. in a world enduring near daily terror attack, they don't want anyone to view the m.g.m. national harbor as a so-called soft target. m.g.m.'s sniffer dogs constantly patrol with the handlers. they are part of the security staff that are supplemented by the prince george's county police. guests today tell us it eases their real fears. >> when we first came in and saw the dogs, it's great. it gives you a feeling of security and being safe. brad: so back live, what you can see is one of the many princeg

cars on the perimeter road around the casino. they will be on duty for the foreseeable future. for a concert tonight, they will be here to direct traffic as well. we come back at 5:00 and we talk to more casino-goers who say they are looking for the security measures. it's in the forefront of their mind. at national harbor, brad bell, abc7 news. jonathan: thank you very much. when you look at brad and he is wearing a light jacket. you think about all the states in the country right now that are bundled up, it's brutal there. doug: but right now we are seeing a lot of the continental u.s. isn't too bad. the cold air drained out of canada. most of the country is not too bad for the first day of winter. jonathan: i stand corrected. doug: pretty much. it's not the first time, jonathan. jonathan: no. many times. doug: we'll see more cold temperatures coming. 39 is the temperature around the region with the partly cloudy skies. as we get through the late night hours, the winds are li

30's and upper 20's. through the day tomorrow the numbers will climb to 53 degrees. a cold front will come through and change the wind direction. get breezy for a bit. that is it. we will still hit 53 degrees. take a look at the temperatures for the next few days. minneapolis. 33 degrees tomorrow. 27 on saturday. it's seasonally cold but the numbers are a little above average in the minneapolis area. cleveland is 40. 53 in raleigh durham. 53 here. fairly quiet weather. a brief cool front coming through. as we look to the christmas weekend, there is another cold front coming through the area on saturday. that is likely to give us showers through the morning, the midday and the afternoon. we think they will end by saturday evening, christmas eve night. first night of hanukkah. sunday is plenty of sunshine. rain. 70% of probability at times for the day on saturday. for next seven days a lot to put into this. 70% chance of rain on saturday christma

night of hanukkah. christmas day, sunshine and 49. monday is the first of the seven days of kwanzaa. warming up to 60 on tuesday. then it will turn cooler heading through the end of next week. next friday, new year's eve looks like if you have plans on saturday to new year's eve, rather, it should be fine weather wise. temperatures in the 40's and the comfortable weather conditions outside. >> thank you. now to a developing story at north carolina. that is where the state lawmakers are meeting to decide whether to repeal the controversial bathroom law. dianne gallagher reports that the law forces everyone to use the bathroom according to the gender and it could cost the state jobs and millions of dollars. dianne: one of the most controversial laws in the country hangs in the balance as the lawmakers are debating the fate of h.b.-2. often called a bathroom bill because part of it require people to use public bathrooms that match the sex on their birth certificate. it's been

since march. hb2 was passed in response to a local ordinance adopted in charlotte that allowed people to use a restroom that corresponds with the gender identity. they voted today to strike down the ordinance in exchange for state legislature to call a special session on h.b.2. opponents call it one of the most anti-lgbt laws in the nation. >> they are telling me as a transgender person i'm not welcome to have the same rights afforded to me as everyone else. dianne: supporters say it's protecting people from predators in public places. >> the state is representative pragmatic middle america which is using common sense restroom, locker room and bathroom rules for decades. dianne: but the law is more than controversial. it's costly. in protest, nba moved the all-star game out of charlotte. >> easily six figures in revenues that we probably lost because of the all-star game. dianne: entertainers canceled concerts and major companies nixed plans to expand. the fal

contributed to patrick mccrory's loss. he is the first incumbent governor in the history of north carolina to lose a re-election bid. dianne gallagher, abc7 news. alison: the d.c. counsel may have passed a family leave bill but mayor bouz because bouz says it doesn't mean she will -- mayor muriel bowser says it doesn't mean she will sign it. >> it's not in the interest of the d.c. families. we see the council raising a tax. we agree with paid leave but if you raise $250 million from d.c. i don't know how you can send two-third of that to maryland and virginia. alison: so the bill did pass 9-4. which is enough of a margin for the council to override a veto if the mayor decides to go that route. it would give people who work in d.c. up to eight weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child or to care for a loved one. while the mayor doesn't want the city residents to pay for benefits of those living outside the nation's capital,

is growing. >> d.c. is celebrating a population growth that is the highest in four decades. i'm cheryl conner. coming up, we will talk to people about why they are moving in and why they are staying. >> good afternoon. i'm kidd o'shea from 97.1 wash f.m. studios. who will number one at the box office at christmas weekend? we will guess and tell you about the movies opening today. plus a christmas countdown you

zero really can be a hero.ds) get zero down, zero deposit, zero due at signing, and zero first month's payment on select volkswagen models. right now at the volkswagen sign then drive event.

jonathan: three new films are getting a jump on the crowded christmas box office. alison: kidd o'shea is live at the wash f.m. studios in rockville with a look at the films. hey, kidd. kidd: hey, guys. playing christmas music right now this afternoon. and those films all open today. >> everyone in the city gives a shot at being a star. in our singing competition. kidd: we begin with the "american idol" meets the animated comedy "sing." it is expected to bring in $5 million for the debut week. i'm guessing this will be the number one movie at the box office christmas weekend. also hitting theaters "passengers" with chris prattt and jennifer lawrence. looks great. rounding out the list the movie version of the video game franchise "assassins creed" that should be a big

as well. when it comes to christmas music at wash f.m., they go commercial-free on christmas eve at 3:00 p.m. with a count down of the top 30 christmas songs. you don't want to miss that. for now i have to get back to playing christmas music. i'll see you tomorrow on "good morning washington." alison: have a good time. see you later. meanwhile, people in a virginia neighborhood prefer the eight tiny reindeer to the other options at this time of year. they called police about the noise a fire truck was making as it carries the jolly old elf through a virginia beach neighborhood. >> we pulled over. i'm like you pulled a fire truck over with santa claus over on top. what is going on? [laughter] alison: turns out the truck was using the sirens to let the kids and the neighbors know to come out and see santa. he is passing by. police told them turn off the lights and sirens. organizers said it ended the event because the kids didn't know

jonathan: it's like you pulled over a truck with santa. alison: a grinch move! jonathan: still ahead for us at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- >> a customer came in. like where's the tree? what do you mean where's the tree? jonathan: a real-life grinch makes off with a big symbol of the season. >> can the doll be used to spy on your family? i'm chris papst. coming up, some companies say yeah! they want i

alison: "7 on your side" with a consumer alert about a popular toy that could be recording your child's conversation. privacy groups say the doll known as my friend kayla allows the government and other people to spy on your family. our chris papst joins us now with the "7 on your side" consumer alert. how does this work? chris: advances in technology, this is bound to happen, right? this warning comes from a privacy group. electronic privacy information center. e.p.i.c. i's warning retailers to stop selling this doll. we got

target in arlington. it's called "my friend kayla." here is how it works. the doll comes from a variety of accessories. for the purpose of this demonstration we are using this cup. you hold it up in the sensor in the hand. [doll talking] she talks to your child. every time you hold it up she said something different. the other thing that the doll does is connect to the bluetooth on your phone. allowing your child to talk to the doll. then the doll talks back as it is connected to the internet. in doing that, the conversation is sent back to the doll's makers. according to epic has a data base used by the federal government. so your child's conversations are recorded and then can be heard by the feds. now according to the epic website it has filed a complaint with the federal trade commission against the toy's maker. nuance communication has released a statement online saying, "we have made and will

a priority. nuance does not share voice data collected from or on behalf of the customers with any of our other customers." meaning you are a customer and the federal government is a customer. toy stores across europe have removed my friend kayla from the shelves are and offering refunds to parents who purchase the toy according to epic. alison: so basically, it's just good to know this. but the chance of all of these lining up and turning into something are pretty rare. >> it's possible. it can happen but the chances of it happening why would the government want to know what your 2-year-old is saying to her doll? who knows? jonathan: i would like to have a tea party. that's what they will hear. alison: thank you. jonathan: in california the search is on for a real-life grinch because someone stole an entire christmas tree from outside the placerville news company. the newsstand is the fifth oldest business in california. each year the community comes together to help

tree. >> can i say on camera how i feel? i was really pissed off. i thought if i could get my hand on those little rascals. it's a tree and it's lovely. it's nice. jonathan: she wasn't candy coating it. anonymous donor offered up a new tree so the town can keep up the tradition. alison: the newest members of the charleston police department are not armed with guns. they are armed with love. 11 women sworn in to be member of the department's grandma unit. also referred to as the g-unit, of course. that sounds much cooler. their mission is to do what grandmas do best, to spread love and hugs. they all know how important the mission is considering every member was once a victim of elder abuse or domestic violence. >> sometimes i'm not feeling good or i'm feeling low. somebody will give me a hug and i'll feel better. then i share my hug with someone else. >> my goodness. this is a win for everybody. they feel good by doing it. they want to do it.

alison: so the first mission for the g-unit is to find out where they want to start spreading love. so if you get stopped by a grandm, put your phone down and put your hands out and prepare for a big hug. jonathan: that is a nice and creative way to do things. alison: it would be nice to see it in other cities. jonathan: you watch what happens. they probably get more production out of them than other guys patrolling. thatly have a good time, too. if you moved to d.c. this past year, you are in good company. the population is the highest in decades. cheryl conner spoke to the long-time residents and those who just moved in. >> can you say "ball"? >> teaching lincoln how to read is important for his parents. there is a perk living in d.c. since he is under the age of 5 he gets a free book from the library every month. >> we really don't like summer a lot. we love being able to park our car and walk to a lot of places. cheryl: she and her husband bought their first home in the petworth community in

they are part of a population boom happening in the district. >> old residents and new residents, everyone is welcoming. cheryl: like they are going up for the holiday weekend outside luis' home who lived off this avenue for 40 years. >> there is crime everywhere. the crime is leaving d.c. is it going to maryland. cheryl: the census bureau says d.c. has the highest population rate since he settled in four decades ago. more than 10,000 people moved to d.c. since last year. >> a parent we met at the playground says he is not surprised by the numbers when he and his wife had children they decided to stay in the district. >> my daughter is the eldest of seven kids on the block. starts with the school. she has a lot of good schools and up-and-coming schools. cheryl: the census bureau says the growth comes from new people moving to the city. >> you can read the

cheryl: like this family. in northwest washington, cheryl conner, abc7 news. jonathan: all right. let's get out to steve rudin. went him outside. he has his heavy jacket. it's not that bad out there. chilly. alison: this is one of the spots i want to check out in the holiday season. he is in vienna at the gardens. steve: it is fantastic out here. we got here about 40 minutes ago. none of the lights were on. it was very quiet. you could hear the birds chirping. they go from station to station to station to click on the lights. you hear the click loud and it instraint comes to life -- instantly comes to life. no one is here right now. the doors are open. they close tonight at 10:00. there is so much to see. i will step out of the way. this is a small sampling of the thousands and the thousands of lights that they have strewn across the area. it takes three months to put everything up. the best news. if you can't make it here

you have a lot of times to get out here. talk about the forecast. the temperatures will be in the 30's under the partly cloudy skies. it will become more breezy tomorrow afternoon after morning clouds. we will see more sunshine in the afternoon. high temperature is around 53. as we move in to friday it's still on the cool side. the upper 40's. of course, christmas weekend. christmas eve, showers here and there. not a wash-out. christmas day we get the showers out of here. the temperatures will be in the upper 40's. still near average for the time of year. let's head back to jamie sullivan. check on the traffic. i have a feeling that the roadways do not look as beautiful as things look behind me. jamie: they don't but they look similar. you a lot of red lights behind you. i have red lights behind me, steve. this is 95 through dale city where a while ago you can see the residual water here. we had a brush fire. we had

now nothing is blocked. the traffic is still going to see the volume heading south approaching the occoquan. they will start in newington. let's talk about the beltway. these are the different lights. some are red. we are seeing more of the white lights. the headlights this time around on the inner loop of the capital beltway. this is near old dominion averaging 6 miles per hour. you are still on the brakes. closer to 270 is where you get a break. you won't see the heavy traffic. outbound kenilworth avenue, 23 from the 11th street bridge to the baltimore washington parkway. on the bottom of the beltway. the outer loop from alexandria across the wilson bridge, congested. you can see here again with the brake lights. we had earlier crashes. minor issues. everything on the shoulder. nothing major right now blocking the lanes. that the a look at traffic. jonathan: thanks. coming up next for us at 4:00, the local college recently named the best for vets. that is next in the "spotlight on education." alison: then ahead new at

5:00 -- [holiday music] there is a new tune for the one-time bell ringers. the push to make up a deficit in one community and why they believe the donations are down this

jonathan: putting the spotlight on education now. when veterans transition back to civi

interested in advancing the education. kellye lynn takes us to the best local college for vets. kellye: there is a gathering place at montgomery college where people who share a common story come to connect and get the kind of support that is hard to find on college campuses. >> it's like you have friends that you have known for years that you have only known them for two or three weeks. kellye: navy veteran found that program. it has needed resources for the veterans and the service members. the numbers are hard to track it's estimated 900 veterans and 150 service members are enrolled at montgomery college. >> every person who comes out is going to have a different experience. they will have a different outlook on life. kellye: to acadic

and fitness classes they want to provide the support to make it to graduation. there is a study center for women and an approach to education that put montgomery college at number 16 in the annual best for vets ranking of two-year colleges by military times. >> this is a miracle i'm here. kellye: after a two-year recovery from a rocket explosion in afghanistan, army veterans is working his way to a degree mechanical engineering. >> they know what you are going through. they know that you need help. kellye: to succeed in life after service. in rockville, kellye lynn, abc7 news. alison: a fire displaces dozens of people before the holidays. the help coming in. new details about the search for the berlin terror suspect and how long you can expect to see more police around d.c. dropping the bell and picking up

salvation army thousands of dollars short of making its goal. first at 5:00 today a number of families out of their homes for the holidays after the fire ripped through a condominium complex overnight. the flames were reported shortly before 1:00 in the morning when of course many people were still in bed. anna-lysa gayle joins us live with what is being done for them for the people who lost their homes. anna-lysa: right now we are in one of those apartment units that suffered most of the damage. take a look around. this is really putting a damper on the holidays for many of the families that were outside of their unit for month of the day. most of them being allowed to return this afternoon around 3:00 p.m. we told you 31 people were displaced originally but now the number is about ten. while worker were

to put the pieces together, some families were allowed back in. four units are now considered unlivable due to an early morning fire. one of those severely damaged unit belongs to adam. he had a chance to see his destroyed condo for the first time on wednesday afternoon. >> the carpet. the ceiling is gone. it will be a big hit. i don't have insurance. anna-lysa: he was going to celebrate holiday early but he had to rush back from delaware when he heard about the fire. >> you were out of a place to stay tonight? anna-lysa: i'm going to drive back to delaware. fortunately. anna-lysa: he tried to save some of the personal items. the good ne